Back in Issue 9,
The Later Years follows the same format, but proves a little duller, which follows, given that by this point, Clapton was duller too (you know you’re in trouble when Roberty notes in his opening gambit that his protagonist “spent most of his spare time fly-fishing” in 1983).
Tied to EC’s lukewarm late-period, these pages struggle to whip up much drama or momentum, and so the setlists return, in their thousands, alongside reams of credits for half-forgotten solo albums. The inclusion of some incisive soundbites and cracking photos keeps you flicking, but if you want to pore obsessively over a Clapton era, better make it The Early Years.
Via Backbeat Books
